Working with their school’s BIPOC committee and the Lead UP group at their Club, which provides youth with opportunities to engage in service initiatives that address community needs, BGC Winnipeg young leaders Busayo and Faith led a schoolwide initiative to raise awareness about Black History Month, important Black leaders, and Black culture in Canada and the U.S.
With support from Heather, a staff member at BGC Winnipeg, they applied for BGC Canada’s Anti-Racism Initiative Microgrant to help support the initiative.
BGC Canada’s Anti-Racism Initiative Microgrants, sponsored by Hyundai Canada and Best Buy Canada, were created to support youth-led initiatives from Club members across Canada.
The microgrants aim to elevate youth voices around anti-racism, especially in BIPOC communities. BGC Canada is committed to removing barriers for youth and instilling the confidence they need to achieve their best selves. Stories like this one are what we mean when we say: No. More. Barriers.
Everyone involved spent the fall of 2021 and winter of 2022 preparing for the event. The group organized online activities (like Kahoot!) to be delivered in classrooms at Dakota Collegiate and created posters for the entire school, incorporating an equity, diversity, and inclusion lens in the messaging. Busayo also led a video production, where people of all ages were interviewed and spoke about their experiences with racism and what they were hopeful for in the future.
You can view the video here: https://vimeo.com/513578469
There were participation prizes and t-shirts donated by the local city councilor. Busayo also designed official t-shirts for the school’s BIPOC committee.
Working together with their peers, BGC Winnipeg, community members, and the BIPOC committee, Busayo and Faith’s initiative provided three weeks of activities for 1,250 students across 81 classrooms at Dakota Collegiate. For the duration, Busayo also set up a Q & A box where people could ask questions that would eventually be answered by members of the BIPOC committee during morning announcements.
Busayo says it was her “favourite project so far,” one that she will remember for a long time.
“I never thought I could lead such a big project.”
